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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A Good Soul, or Today I'm a Cat Blogger

Over the weekend, The Lightning and Lightning Bug community linked up posts about their blogging identity, who they are as a blogger, what they write, that kind of thing. A great link up because I got to learn so much about my blogging/writing buddies and how they got their start blogging. It also helped me think about who I am as a blogger. In fact, I discovered that Chicken Noodle Gravy is a blog with no identity and that I'm completely okay with that.

The best thing about having a blog with no identity? It can be whatever it wants to be whenever it wants to be that. And tonight, Chicken Noodle Gravy wants to be a cat blog.

My regular readers may already know that I have three cats: Poe, Sushi, and Kisa. They are characters in their own right and definitely make mine and Jeremy's lives more interesting, but today's post is not about them. No, today's post is about the fourth cat that almost joined our family. The fourth cat that I managed to successfully avoid.

Kisa, posing with my owl pajamas on our unmade bed

Sushi, hiding her face and evilness from the camera

Poe being Poe

At work a couple of weeks ago, I was quietly minding my own business in my office. I was probably on the verge of solving the debt crisis or something else incredibly brilliant, when I was interrupted by my coworker. She had a huge grin on her face. "Umm...can you come out here for a minute?"

I heaved a sigh. I figured a student wanted me, that's what I usually have to go to the lobby for, but when I got to the front desk, I knew why my coworker had been grinning. A student was waiting for me, but this student wasn't interested in our admissions process, and she didn't need to be counseled on what to do with her life. This student held a kitten.

He was about 9 weeks old, a grey and black tabby. He was cuddled up in the student's arms and smiling. My heart melted, and I immediately felt that old sensation, the sensation that I was about to do something incredibly stupid.

The student smiled at me, probably knew I was a sucker the moment she laid eyes on me. "He was dumped in the parking lot."

Without wasting a moment to think, I opened my big, stupid mouth. "I'll take him."

And so I did. My coworker (a fellow animal lover) had her dog's cage in her car. She let me use it for the kitten. We found him a bowl and filled it with water; another coworker shared a bite of ham sandwich with the little guy. A makeshift litter box was added to the cage, and the kitten was set. I knew at the end of the day I would take him home. I knew Poe, Sushi, and Kisa would hate him on sight. I knew feeding another cat would be expensive, that adding another litter box to our spare room would be pushing it. I knew all of this, but I saw no other choice.

The kitten was one of the sweetest animals I've ever met. Every time someone came by to visit, he would reach his paw through the cage as if to shake hands. When we picked him up, he'd cuddle up close, purring loudly. In the cage, he would simply curl up in the corner, keeping one eye on me and smiling his sly cat smile. I don't know how else to describe him except to say that he had A Good Soul.

Bad picture taken with my cell phone of A Good Soul

As the afternoon wore on, we asked nearly every student that came through our doors if they wanted a cat. Most made awful faces at the mention of the feline.

"I hate cats!"

"Cats are only good for target practice!"

"I'm a dog person!"

Even Whitney, my friend who doesn't care much for cats, felt sorry for our kitten after awhile. No one seemed to want to even give him a chance. And in the end, it was Whitney who ended up saving him. She was talking to a mother and her little girl in her office. She'd just got done describing the admissions process, and as we had done all day, she rounded out the meeting with a simple question, "Do y'all need a cat?"

The mother was excited! Turns out, they'd been looking for a kitten for her daughter. Turns out, our kitten was the perfect kitten for them. As soon as I pulled him out of the cage, he was their's. It was obvious to everyone. No more than five minutes after Whitney had asked them that question they were out the door with that great little kitten.

Personally, I think it was fate. It was definitely a happy ending to the tale; we ended up saving a kitten and making a little girl's life brighter. All in a day's work.

And even better for me? A fourth cat for the Ross household was successfully averted. My crazy cat lady days are delayed for a little while longer...

And to round out this very long post that already includes one of my favorite things (cats), I'd like to send a shout out and a HUGE thank you to another of my favorite things (my buddy Neens!) My friend Nina over at The Adventures of Artsy Nina and Camp Honeybelle (her wonderful Etsy shop) did an amazing thing for me. She sent me a gift in the mail, a handmade gift made with love and heart. Check out the Word Owl she made me! Nina's a wonderful friend, one who has been there for me lately with words of support and wisdom. I cannot tell you how much this simple gift lifted me up. She's one incredible lady, a "good soul"...and yesterday was her birthday! Happy Birthday, friend! Love you and thanks again! Stop by Nina's blog and wish her a happy birthday, and be sure to check out her Etsy shop that's filled with unique vintage and retro treasures!